Mound City, Illinois

While researching the Saga of Sgt. Ginter, who is buried in the Mound City National Cemetery (as a sergeant, not as female camp follower in a Major’s uniform), I ran across some interesting tidbits of Civil War history about Mound City and Cairo, located about five miles apart on the Ohio River.

Mound City was the location of one of the largest Civil War hospitals in the western campaign. Even though no major battles were fought in the two cities, they received dead and wounded soldiers from Battles in Belmont, Commerce and Reed’s Point in Missouri; Fort Donelson and Shiloh in Tennessee; Fort Holt, Paducah and Columbus in Kentucky.

I was disappointed to learn that this brick building is all that’s left of what was described as one of the best administered of the military general hospitals.

Was also a naval depot

The National Register of Historic Places listing of Civil War Cemeteries contains the following information about Mound City. If you are interested in the cemetery part, here is a link to the full register.

Mound City, Illinois, was founded at the abandoned settlement of Trinity in 1854. The city was located at the confluence of the Ohio and Cache Rivers. With the coming of the civil conflict, the riverfront became an extremely important Union naval facility for the Mississippi Squadron. A repair facility for the squadron was moved to Mound City due to the lack of space at Cairo.

Built three ironclads

Throughout the Civil War, the Mound City naval depot was the only repair facility for the Mississippi Squadron, a fleet that numbered 80 ships. In addition to repairing and refitting vessels, the Mound City naval depot also shared in the construction of three ironclad gunboats. These were the U.S.S. Cairo, Cincinnati, and Mound City.

Heavy battles along the Tennessee, Cumberland, and Mississippi Rivers necessitated the establishment of hospital facilities to care for the wounded. Mound City was in a strategic location and the city’s hotel and foundry were converted into hospital facilities. High death rates from wounds and disease led to the establishment of the Mound City National Cemetery.

Red Rover hospital ship

On April 7, 1862, the gunboat, Mound City, captured a side-wheel river steamer named the Red Rover which had been used by the Confederates as a floating barracks. The Red Rover was taken to St. Louis to be refitted as a floating hospital for the Western Flotilla. The ship was assigned to the U. S. Navy Hospital at Mound City.

The Red Rover accompanied the flotilla through most engagements with the enemy, making many trips with wounded and dead to the Memphis and Mound City hospitals and cemeteries, treating the wounded along the bank of the Mississippi, scrounging for food and transporting medical supplies.

Important staging area

Although Mound City and nearby Cairo, Illinois, were not in the combat theater of the Civil War, their location near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers made these areas important staging points for the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers for the Union forces. Three of the famous Eads ironclad gunboats were built at the Mound City marine ways and shipyard.

These specially designed shallow draft ironclads played an important part in the western campaign, giving valuable support to the Union troops on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers and at Vicksburg.

One of largest hospitals in the West

In 1861, a large brick building in Mound City was taken over by the United States Government for use as a general hospital. In service throughout the war, it was one of the largest military hospitals in the west. Another large hospital was established at Cairo.

Roman Catholic nuns of the Order of the Holy Cross at Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, were utilized as nurses to staff these hospitals. The establishment of these large hospitals at Mound City and Cairo was a determining factor in the location of the Mound City National Cemetery.

The hospital at Mound City was able to accommodate from 1,000-1,500 patients and has been described as one of the best administered of the military general hospitals.

First patients came from Battle of Belmont

The first patients at the Mound City General Hospital were the wounded from the Battle of Belmont, Missouri, November 7, 1861. Heavy fighting at Fort Donelson, February 13-16, 1862, and at Shiloh April 6-7, 1862, brought many more patients to the Mound City and Cairo hospitals.

The death rate from wounds and all prevalent diseases was high in the hospitals of the Civil War period.

Other bodies were removed from Cairo and its vicinity in Pulaski County; in Missouri from Belmont in Mississippi County; Reed’s Point and Commerce in Scott County; in Kentucky from Fort Holt in Bailon County, Columbus in Hickman County, and Paducah in McCracken County.

There are 2,759 unknown soldiers buried in the Mound City National Cemetery, as well as 27 Confederate soldiers who died in the wartime hospitals of the area.

Photo gallery of Mound City

Mound City, like Cairo, has seen better days. I was fascinated by a 1905 hardware store on Main Street. I was even more fascinated when I saw the roof had fallen in and the inside was returning to nature. Click on any photo to make it larger, then use your arrow keys to move through the images.

37 Replies to “Mound City, Illinois”

Fascinating Dr. S! Yet another place for dickie McClard aka. The ol’ rum runner. To take me on his mystery motorcycle tour this spring.
Did you mean many bodies were also brought to Mounds for burial ? in you paragraph:
Other bodies were removed from Cairo and its vicinity in Pulaski County; in Missouri from Belmont in Mississippi County; Reed’s Point and Commerce in Scott County;……….

I drove thru there just a couple of years ago. I wanted to see what was there after all these years. Seems to be a little Cairo, that is House way too big for a town this size and a little sleepy…not much going on. I did miss the cemetery, perhaps on my next visit… Great work Ken, I always enjoy taking a road less traveled.

Ken, Thanks for the update on the Mounds City Hospital. My Great Grandmother, Julia Gill served as a Cival War nurse at that hospital along with her aunt Sister Mary Magedelene, Sisters of the Holy Cross, who also served the wounded at St. Mary’s Infirmary in Cairo. The Cape Girardeau Bulletin ran a two-part article on Julia and her work as an Army nurse (she actually received a military pension). The Bulletin article shows a pen and ink sketch of the original hospital drawn by a patient and a sketch of the Red Rover, the navy’s first hospital ship, built at Cape in 1859. She was purchased by the Confederacy on November 7, 1861, and put to use as a barracks ship for the floating battery at New Orleans, Louisiana, she served at Island No. 10 until she was captured there by the Union gunboat Mound City on April 7, 1862. The shortened link to the Jan 13, 1972 Bulletin article is http://bit.ly/1yLguKD

My Shy Reader friend sent this update to the story: The Red Rover hospital boat was said to have been built in Cape Girardeau.

And the fence that runs across the front of the house at 323 Themis St., came from the Civil War hospital at Cairo, Ill. It was salvaged by our mutual friend, Judith Ann Crow.

She then sent this follow-up message: Regarding the story of the Red Rover, I’ve always had my doubts about. Cape’s not really known for having a shipyard to construct a boat. But I do know that barges were built on the riverfront. I believe Eddy Erlbacher may have done so as late as the 1930s. I wonder if the structure of the Red Rover was built here and the engines installed at Cairo…

Hi Ken,
I serve on the Mound City National Cemetery Preservation Commission Board and want to say Thank you for this article. We are trying to re-organize our museum, which is located inside the caretakers lodge at the cemetery. We are focusing on the Civil War Hospital, as that was why the cemetery was created. If you have any readers/followers out there that have artifacts they might want to loan or donate to our museum, please have them contact me.. (618) 521-5228 or by “snail” mail at MCNCPC, P O Box 45, Mound City, IL 62963. Any information or pictures would be appreciated also. We are a non-profit organization that meets on the first Monday of the month, at 6 p.m. at the caretakers lodge on the cemetery grounds. Outside of donations that we receive, our only source of funding is from the annual “Wreaths across America” event each December.
We have a Memorial Day Program (at the Cemetery) on the Saturday before Memorial Day. It will be held on Saturday, May 23, in 2015 at 10 a.m. If you happen to be in the area, I think you would enjoy this program. This year we are honoring the Vietnam Veterans.
Thanks for the info Ken… keep up the good work
Becky Mueller

Linda, The Md. City Methodist Church was sold several years back for taxes, but apparently all they wanted was the stained glass windows, as they just boarded the windows and have left it sitting……. I’m not sure who bought it, but am checking on it now. If I find out, I’ll let you know.
Becky Mueller

It is a shame that the State of Illinois as let several of these Historical Cities, fall when they are eager to pour money into Industrial Cities and forget the one’s that made such a Historical impact in Illinois.

According to an article, when he died in 1932, my paternal great-grandfather Michael Williams sold newspapers at the Marine Works when he was young. Later, he became the Superintendent there. Eventually he held the same job at Paducah, KY. There are lots of memories tied to Mound City and Cairo for my generation. Anton Lutz, another great-grandfather came to Mound City to be a meat vendor for the Union Army, arriving in 1861. It’s nice to see pictures of Mound City as it was and how it stays in my memory. Many of the Mound City “Tigers” still communicate today on an e-mail list.

Me and my wife have spent a lot of time in the southern Illinois after I retired from Illinois Bell Telephone Co. We still get down that way about once a year, its sad to see a lot of the area going down the hill.

Here are two sites with really good pics of the Mounds City hospital and Red Rover. The Bing search result site has several of Ken’s photos (with credit and link to this site). You can view pics in a grid or slideshow. Each photo credits photographer and a link to the original photo website. The other site is a Southern Illinois history site.

Having grown up in Mound City in the 1940 and 1950 era. Things were much different back then as compared to today. Nearly all of the building shown here were really nice places and all occupied. My mother worked at Bodes’Drug Store through the 1970s. A movie theater was located next to the old drug store. The bank was open and all of the buildings on Main St. were occupied.
A couple of years ago, my friend and I toured the town and found that nearly all of the places we remember were gone or falling down. This was a town of over 3600 people in the 1960s. It has a place in the history of the United States and in the history of Illinois. However, it is now just a memory of those of us who grew up and went to school there.

My great great great grandfather was superintendent of the fiscal. War cementY at mound city and was murdered there. Does his house remain there? Are there any pictures of him? His nAme was Thomas a Fitzpatrick.

Looking for a burial site of Jeremiah Moulton Morrison who served in the 26th Maine Regiment Infantry C company from October 1862 to his death in either cairo or Mound city in August 1863.There is a memorial to him in his hometown of Mariaville Maine, but I have reason to believe that he is not buried there.

Did you check the National Cemetery between Mound City and Cairo? The largest hospital for the West/Union was located at Mound City. I believe the Sisters of Charity ran it. There is a large section of the cemetery dedicated to Civil War dead. Mound City is my hometown. Mary Ruth Lutz Harriss, Riverside CA.

Mary Ruth Harriss
My name is Jeannie Fitzgerald Crawford and my paternal grandfather was from Mound City. His Aunt married Mary Ella Fitzgerald married Michael Williams. My email is crawford0221@yahoo.com
Look forward to hearing from you
Jeannie

My dad’s paternal grandfather was William Fitzgerald who was a ship caulker. I suspect that he may have been involved in the building of these ships. Would love to find out for sure. My paternal grandfather was also a ship caulker like his dad

Sorry, I can’t help you, then. I didn’t look at the references that closely. I photographed the poor farm in Athens County back in the late 60s, and then a couple of years ago, but that’s not going to do you any good.

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Cape Central High Photos

Ken Steinhoff, Cape Girardeau Central High School Class of 1965, was a photographer for The Tiger and The Girardot, and was on the staff of The Capaha Arrow and The Sagamore at Southeast Missouri State University. He worked as a photographer / reporter (among other things) at The Jackson Pioneer and The Southeast Missourian.

He transferred to Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, his junior year, and served as photo editor of The Ohio University Post. He was also chief photographer of The Athens Messenger.

He was chief photographer of the Gastonia (NC) Gazette for a long 18 months until he could escape to The Palm Beach Post, where he served as a staff photographer, director of photography, editorial operations manager and telecommunications manager. He accepted a buyout in 2008, after 35 years at the paper.

Most of the stories are about growing up in a small Midwestern town on the Mississippi River, but there’s no telling what you might run into.

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